Liebster Blog Award and acupuncture

Busy day at work! Had an acupuncture appointment in the afternoon - my first session. It wasn't as sore as I had imagined, was really quite relaxing! :) Unfortunately still no exercise on my bike again though, as my knee is still complaining after I pushed it too much on Sunday.


Here's what I wore today:

Dress: ValleyGirl

Necklace: Chanel (via Reebonz)

Bracelets: the usual plus 2 freshwater pearl ones made by a talented friend

Bag: Chloe Ethel in sweet pink

Shoes: Marc by Marc Jacobs black patent mouse flats

Been carrying my pink Chloe Ethel for a few days now.


And thank you to June at Stylish with a Budget for giving me a Liebster blog award!

The Liebster Blog Award. Liebster in German means dearest, beloved, or favourite, and it's for bloggers with under 200 followers.


The rules:
1. Thank you Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.
3. Copy & paste the blog award on your blog.
4. Revel your 5 blog picks.
5. Let them know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog.


It's so tricky to find 5 great blogs for this award. A lot of the bloggers I follow (like the wonderful Liv at WaitUntilTheSunset) have more than 200 followers.

So here are my 5 blog picks:

K at MakeEveryMoveCount
One of my best friends in real life, and she has a very inspiring blog.

Purvi from Purvi's creative hub
A very sweet blogger, I always love to read her posts. She is a very talented artist and she writes beautifully too.

Becky and Frederik at The Fashionoclast
I don't know if they "do" blog awards, but they do have beautifully written pieces to really make you think about fashion, and very fun Frivolous Friday challenges that encourage me to expand my fashion outlook.

The Blooberrymuffin over at Blooberrymuffin.com
Another blogger I'm lucky enough to call my friend. I love all of her peektures.

Teodora from Teodora'sLookbook (who is also currently having a giveaway!)
The blogger that unknowingly encouraged me to buy this dress. How could I not pass on an award to the lovely Teodora?


Hope you all enjoy checking out the 5 blog picks :)

The wrinkly LBD

My wrinkled little black dress is brought to you by extra long meetings and being stuck at work for 9 hours with no air conditioning. The dreaded clothes wrinkles....

Here's what I wore today:

Dress: French Connection (that has a really nice skirt when it's not wrinkled out of shape)
Necklace: Made by a talented friend
Bracelets: The usual
Belt: Louis Vuitton "commete" Bandeau scarf worn as a belt
Shoes: Skechers
Bag: Chloe Ethel in sweet pink (with puff ball keyring)

Had to wear my Skechers as my knee was throbbing this morning - definitely overdid it on the exercise bike yesterday!

How cute is the little fluff ball on my bag? Got it as a surprise gift from one of my friends. It's very soft and fluffy. Just need to find a permanent place to put it now.

Closeup of accessories:

Fingers crossed the air con is working tomorrow! Will try wear something less prone to wrinkles just in case!

Jeans and a tee again

A very relaxing Sunday again - it rained most of the morning but when it stopped in the afternoon I was able to take Cooper for a much needed walk. Also had my first session on my exercise bike. May have overdone it a little for a first time, maybe 30 minutes at once is too much for my knee. DH has told me if it's sore today it will be really sore tomorrow. Fingers crossed it won't be!

Just wore comfy, casual clothes today.

Here's what I wore:

Oversized tee: Wildfox Couture

Jeans: Jeanswest

Necklace: Chanel (via Reebonz)

Bracelets: the usual

Shoes: Cotton On thongs

As you can see the sun was shining when I took the pic - my top seems really bright sorry! There is a photography thread that was recently started on Effen Haute forum that I'm participating in, hopefully I'll soak up some tips about taking better photos.

Closeup of accessories:

Although I'm not volunteering at church online (http://live.lifechurch.tv/) this evening as it's my week off, I will just be attending as a guest and we have a meeting for it later. I love that my church is online so I don't have to dress up specially for meetings! :)

Hope you had a great weekend!

Garage sale goodies!

Very rainy afternoon, but nice morning. We went for a trip to the Beenleigh Baptist church garage sale in the morning. Cooper came along too of course, and loved being the centre of attention.

Here's what I wore today:

Tee: Jeanswest Agnes tee in khaki (From my Jeanswest haul here)
Jeans: again Jeanswest
Necklace: glass pearls made by a talented friend
Bracelets: the usual plus a gifted glass pearl and bow one, and 2 freshwater pearl bracelets made by a talented friend.
Bag: Chloe Ethel in sweet pink
Shoes: Balenciaga sorbet RGGH studded sandals

Really pleased to be able to wear my Chloe Ethel bag again :)

Closeup of accessories:

We were just going to the garage sale to show our support and drop off something for some friends, but of course there were a few impulse buys!

I bought these cute leopard print slippers that my mum had put aside for me - they fit perfectly and are so comfy! My mum always picks the best things! Cooper is still unsure if they are for me or him - he keeps biting them now and then. They are very similar to his fluffy toys I guess.

And a very last minute purchase was this exercise bike! Not planned at all, which frustrated DH a little. Oops!

Someone jokingly asked if we wanted it at the end of the sale, as they were packing up all the items that didn't sell to donate to the Salvation Army store. We had missed it when we were looking around before. They were very surprised when I jumped at the chance to take it! DH was especially shocked - I think this is the strangest impulse buy he's seen me get! Tried it out quickly and it worked great, although it's old and dusty it still works.

Those that know me personally know I've badly injured my knee a couple of times recently, and that's why I can't wear heels as much anymore. I used to wear them every day. One of the things the physio suggested for me was an exercise bike, to build up the strength in my muscles without having the varying terrain and resistance of  biking outdoors. The price and hopefully short term requirement for use always put us off getting one.

Very excited with my new-to-me bike and looking forward to using it to strengthen my knee.


What's the strangest impulse buy you've made?

Really casual Friday

Yesterday was a public holiday for Australia day, so I took today off as well to have an extra long weekend.

Busy morning getting groceries and picking up some parcels at the post office with Cooper, and got back home with enough time to snap a pic just before the rain started.

Here's what I wore today:

Tee: Cotton On brown boxy tee ($5 at DFO outlet!)
Necklace: gift from DH
Bracelets: the usual
Jeans: Jeanswest
Shoes: Roxy thongs
Bag: ThursdayFriday 'Together' bag last seen here.

I love how lightweight and easy to carry this tote is - it's great for errands and carrying groceries, leaves my hands free for Cooper's lead. Such a fun print on it too.

Cooper and I then had a very relaxing afternoon at home, perfect weather for curling up together on the sofa!

Not the most productive of days, but a very relaxing day which is just what I needed. Hope you had an equally great start to the weekend.

Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia day!

We had a great day celebrating with my family and some friends. The rain cleared and the sun came out, it was a really nice day.


Here's what I wore:

Singlet: Asos basic singlet in black
Necklace: House of Harlow
Bracelets: the usual, plus some gifted jade ones from my father in law, and some labradorite ones made by a talented friend.
Skirt: French Connection leaf print skirt
Thongs: Cotton on
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff Nikki in silverstreak

I don't have many green and gold items in my wardrobe, but this skirt and some green and gold accessories did an okay job I think. And you can't celebrate Australia day without thongs!

Closeup of the accessories and the print on the skirt:

Some more Australia Day pics from various years:

Hope you had a wonderful relaxing Australia Day!

Australia Day Sale coupon codes at Asos and Reebonz

Hope you're all having a great Australia day - just had to quickly share these sale codes for my fellow Aussies, will have a proper post later.


Reebonz have an extra 5% off all day today to celebrate Australia day!

5% off at Reebonz on Australia day with code AUSDAY, minimum $500 spend,  ends 26th Jan 2012 11:59 AEST

10 off at Asos on Australia day with code OZDAY.  Valid until 11:59pm EST, 26th January 2012. Offer applies to orders up to a maximum spend of $811. Offer valid on full priced items only. Selected items only, brand exclusions apply. Only one promo code can be used per order. For all other promotional terms and conditions click here.

Wet Wednesday, Reebonz twitter Giveaway

Even more rain and road closures today. Thankfully it stopped raining in the afternoon and hasn't started again, hoping it continues to stay that way and we have a dry Australia day tomorrow.

Here's what I wore today:

 Dress: French Connection Kay dress
Necklace: freshwater pearls, made by a talented friend
Bracelets: the usual plus some freshwater pearl ones made by a friend.
Boots: NineWest Odin Black Leather ankle boots
Bag: Balenciaga 2008 Sapphire RH city


Closeup of accessories and houndstooth print on the dress:

The boots were a much better choice for the rain than my black flats yesterday, but my knee did get sore after wearing them all day. Need to ease into heels!


If you have twitter, @ReebonzAU and @Young_Republic are having a twitter giveaway once they hit 2,000 followers.

Hope you are all dry and warm and safe!

Rain, rain and a little more rain

Been watching the http://qldalert.com/ website all afternoon with the flooding and road closures. Keeping those who have already had their homes go under water today in my prayers, and hoping the rain relents soon.


This was what I wore today for a big meeting at work:

Dress: Valley Girl
Necklace: Gift from DH
Bracelets: the usual plus purple one made by a talented friend
Shoes: Cotton On black flats. Really need to get myself some rain boots! Needed sensible shoes today, but all my boots have heels.
Bag: Balenciaga 2008 Sapphire RH city

And I wore a cardi over the dress most of the day to keep warm:

Close up of accessories and print on the dress:

And despite the rain Cooper popped out his doggy door now and then to check on the weather - he is one wet pup!

Don't forget to check me out over at the Fashionoclast - I was featured in their Frivolous Friday challenge again :) This time it was for my Bold Hat.

Hope wherever you are in the world you are warm and dry!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend, and if you celebrated Chinese New Year I hope it was fun. We had a little celebration at our team meeting this morning. It was nice, and lots of yummy food!

The afternoon brought lots of rain but I managed to pop outside to get a picture when it let up for a minute.

Here's what I wore today: red, gold and brown.

Dress: Asos Tulip Skirt dress in red (My friend complimented me on this dress today and then before I could say anything asked "Asos?" My darling K you know me too well!)
Belt: op-shop
Necklace: House of Harlow gold mini key pendant necklace
Bracelets: the usual plus Hermes kelly double tour leather bracelet in rubis.
Shoes: New Look
Bag: Chloe 2007 Brun Paddington

Closeup of the accessories:

Mixing my metals again!

I also uploaded a little video review showing the typical contents of my Chloe paddington bag if you're interested :) Won't be wearing it tomorrow again - a bag this heavy needs to be worn sparingly!

Hope you had a great start to the week!

Go for what DOES matter, and new laws to stop puppy farms in Queensland

Relaxing Sunday today, spent some time with DH and Cooper and of course will be volunteering at church online this evening.(http://live.lifechurch.tv/) Got a great message going too:

"Let go of what doesn't matter..cut back, throw out, turn off ...go for what DOES matter." (via LifeChurch on facebook )

Here's what I wore today:

Tee: Jeanswest (given to me by my awesome sister in one of her wardrobe clear-outs)
Bracelets: the usual
Shorts: Jeanswest
Shoes: Cotton On thongs
Bag: Chloe Paddington cross body clutch from David Jones

Closeup of the usual accessories:

And I read some great news this morning about new laws being proposed to stop puppy farms in Queensland. Just had to share. :) I'm a big supporter of Oscar's Law so these new laws make me very happy indeed.


Via the RSPCA Queensland Facebook page:

‎#ClosePuppyFactories - we're so close! in response to the 2010/11 Close Puppy Factory Petition and community reaction to the closepuppyfactories.rspcaqld.org.au campaign, the Queensland Government proactively announced a Breeder Identification Number (BIN) system. Have your say on the proposed new dog breeder standards in Queensland here:
http://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/gi/consultation/315/view.html

From the legislation page:

The proposed legislation introduces a system of registration targeting intensive dog breeders and introduces a system of inspections against animal welfare standards.
Other proposed measures include:

• ways of assisting consumers to purchase puppies from registered breeders

• the adoption of mandatory standards for all dog breeders; and

• the expansion of existing dog micro-chipping requirements to improve animal welfare monitoring.

When you go to the link you can read the full proposed standard. The options get stricter and more effective as you go down the list, so option 3 and 4 are the toughest and investigation shows they would have the biggest impact on puppy farms. Full details are in the draft PDF statement on the website.

I was extremely excited to be able to have my say on the proposed laws. Hopefully if this is something you feel strongly about you can add your say as well.

Yum Cha, pancakes, Mulberry Lily, and Cooper gets a trim

Had such a nice day today. Cooper got a much needed grooming session in the morning and then we went out to lunch with DH's family to have yum cha to celebrate Chinese New Year in the afternoon.

After lunch we were lucky to see a dragon dance performance and then we stopped at Hotcake House for some yummy pancakes for desert.

Here's a shot of the pancakes being made:

They get cooked on the hot plates at the front and then stacked at the back when they are done. They have so many different fillings - I got to try the custard one and a chocolate one, delicious!


Here's what I wore today:

Dress: JeansWest

Necklace: Diva red stone necklace

Bracelets: the usual plus Hermes Kelly double tour, and red crystal and freshwater pearl ones made by a talented friend.

Shoes: Asos 

Bag: Mulberry Metallic suede leopard Lily in Maroon. (Gift from my mum, obtained via the sourcing service from Sheree at My Little Boutique)

Such a great print on this dress! Tried to wear as much red as possible as it is tradition for Chinese New Year. I have a fun red dress set aside for work on Monday too as we will be celebrating then also.

I really like my Mulberry Lily bag - not just because it shares a name with my bestie - but because it has such a fun story behind how I got it. I saw it in a magazine and stalked it on Net-A-Porter until it sold out. Months later I found one second hand online but the sale fell through and I was sad I'd missed out on it. My Mum offered to get it for me instead as a birthday gift, and Sheree from  My Little Boutique was able to track down a brand new one at the Mulbery outlet for us. I'm blessed with the best friends and family.


Closeup of the red accessories:

Cooper is feeling much better after his bath and hair cut - he should find it a lot cooler now. I was very glad to read today that the Queensland government is proposing new laws to wipe out puppy farms. We want Oscar's Law!

 

Hope you had a great Saturday! Have you ever managed to get an item you thought was sold out before like I did with my red Lily?

Casual Friday, SOPA/PIPA

Casual Friday today, as it was hot I swapped my planned jeans for a skirt instead. Wouldn't try this outfit again - the trapeze top was really awkward to have tucked into such a voluminous skirt.

So here's what I wore today:

Tee:  Jeanswest Agnes tee  (from my recent Jeanswest sale purchases)
Necklace: gift from a friend (first seen here)
Bracelets: the usual
Skirt: French Connection
Shoes: Asos
Bag: Balenciaga Coquelicot 2011 RH Velo from Reebonz. Wearing the velo strap doubled up - video how to is here.

The skirt has a very sad looking bow, haha. Just couldn't get it to sit right this morning so I gave up.

Closeup of accessories and the detail on the skirt:

And for all my fellow bloggers (especially those in the US) I have to share this article which explains the impacts of the SOPA/PIPA bill being considered in the US at the moment: http://heartifb.com/2012/01/19/how-will-sopapipa-affect-your-fashion-blog/.

Please take a moment to read the article and share the link, and find out what action you can take to stop this law being passed. Although it is a law that will pass in the US, it will affect everyone online.

From the article above:

SOPA/PIPA can (and will, if passed as law) affect you -

• If you reblog stuff or share images (which we all do from time to time), you could be accused of copyright infringement even if you link back to the site you got the content from Even if the site you got your content from is using the material without permission.  (See IFB’s post on the types of photos you can use.)

• If you make a video of makeup tutorial or any DIY project and use a song/music you thought would go well with the video, you could be accused of copyright infringement. (See CreativeCommons.org’s music communities)

• If you posted a picture/logo/brand image for the purpose of educating your readers about it, you could be accused of copyright infringement. (See IFB’s post about Fair Use)

• The content sharing could be limited, severely restricted or be extinct – Youtube, Facebook, Twitter could be targeted as “the websites where online piracy or infringement of intellectual property is taking place’!

The article has some suggestions for what you can do to stop this law being passed.

By copying a small section of that article and including it in this post, even though I had the link back to the main article, I could be sued for copyright infringement if SOPA passes.

Happy 2nd Birthday Cooper

When we adopted Cooper from the shelter they gave us an approximate date of birth. Today is approximately his second birthday, so we had a little fun.

Yes he is wearing a party hat! He's such a good boy!

Here's what I wore today - the last item from my Asos sale haul. 

Dress: Asos Cross Front Dress

Necklace: Chanel (via  Reebonz )

Belt: Op shop

Bracelets: the usual plus Hermes kelly double tour and red crystal bracelet made by a friend.

Shoes: Cotton On thongs (swapped to my black flats when I got to work)

Bag:  Balenciaga Coquelicot 2011 RH Velo from Reebonz. Wearing the velo strap doubled up - video how to is here.

I had this dress in my cart for a while but finally decided to get it after seeing a similar dress on Teodora from Teodora's Lookbook. The great Asos sale price helped too!

It was a great thing to wear as it was a hot day and I had to run a meeting unexpectedly so it worked well for that too. Dresses are so easy for work! Do you find dresses good for work?

 Closeup of the accessories:

Hope everyone had a good Thursday!

Gold accents, wearing my new Asos purchases

The weather was a little warmer today so my leather jacket has gone back into my wardrobe. Instead I wore my new cardigan and pencil skirt from my last Asos order. Only thing I haven't worn yet is the wrap dress. Added my coquelicot Balenciaga velo and some red flats to add a bit of colour.


Here's what I wore today (sorry for the spot on the photo, need to clean the lens):

Cardi: Asos Cardigan with chain trim (first seen here)
Tee: Cotton On
Necklace: House of Harlow
Bracelets: the usual plus House of Harlow
Skirt: Asos pencil skirt with zip details (first seen here)
Shoes: Rubi flats
Bag:  Balenciaga Coquelicot 2011 RH Velo from Reebonz. Wearing the velo strap doubled up - video how to is here.


Closeup of accessories:

Mixing metals isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I don't mind wearing gold and silver jewelry together.


Really liked the outfit in the morning, but then I started to worry it had a bit too much gold. I'm more of a silver girl. Probably won't pair the necklace and cardi together again. Ever had second thoughts about an outfit after wearing it for a while?

Marco Tagliaferri bag again, and more rain

Even more rain today, it called for layers. And dark colours, I always seem to dress in dark colours when it rains. does anyone else do that? Good news is that the repair guy came to fix the oven, so we are able to use the oven for cooking again, yey!

Here's what I wore to work today:

 Dress: Asos Frill blouse contrast skirt dress
Singlet underneath: Jeanswest
Necklace: Chanel (via Reebonz)
Bracelets: The usual
Shoes: Marc by Marc Jacobs patent mouse flats
Bag: Marco Tagliaferri first generation birk bag in navy


I really like the frill on the neckline of this dress. It was cool enough to wear my Jeanswest leather jacket outside too - love this one as it's a similar style to the Balenciaga ones I lust after so much.
Cooper popped his fuzzy little head into the photo to see what I was up to just as the timer went off!

Closeup of the accessories:

And the video of my bag that I posted yesterday has been shared on the Marco Tagliaferri Bags facebook page! So excited when I saw that this evening.


Hope everyone has had a lovely Tuesday :)

Marco Tagliaferri bag, Asos lace skirt

Cold and rainy today - perfect staying in bed weather, shame it was Monday and work! Wore some of my new sale buys today to cheer myself up.

Here's what I wore:

Cardi: Jeanswest

Top: Jeanswest Maria cami (as seen here)

Necklace: House of Harlow 5 station necklace in black and silver  (via Revolve Clothing)

Bracelets: the usual, hidden by the cardigan sleeves

Skirt: Asos lace textured pencil skirt (as seen here)

Shoes: Ninewest Fascinate in silver (as seen here)

Bag: Marco Tagliaferri first generation birk bag in navy

Closeup of accessories and the lace on the skirt:

I took a video showing what fits inside the medium Marco Tagliaferri bag. It's really nice leather, perfect for rainy days like today as it's pretty much invincible. It's a first generation one so the shoulder strap is attached to the handles, on the second generation MT bags the shoulder strap attaches to the side of the bag.

Hope everyone had a good Monday :)

Hermes Twilly, Threadless tee, Jeanswest Sale Steals

Hope everyone had a great weekend :) The rain arrived last night bringing cooler temperatures and a very broken sleep as Cooper was a bit scared by how loud it was.
DH and I went out to the stores to catch the last of the sale items and to spend some gift cards! So today I was dressed for comfort, and something that meant I could easily try on clothes.

Here's what I wore today - jeans and a tee.

Tee: Threadless "Damn Scientists" tee (Thanks to Sheila over at Ephemera for inspiring me to wear one of my Threadless tees. She wears hers better!)
Jeans: Sass & Bide
Shoes: Asos
Bracelets: the usual plus Hermes twilly worn as a bracelet
Bag: Balenciaga 2010 sorbet RH city.


Closeup of the fun print on the tee:

Closeup of accessories:

Little story behind the Hermes twilly:
1. it adds some colour to my outfit, and
2. it was a failed attempt at making a bow tie for Frivolous Friday over at the fashionoclast.
I was attempting to turn a necklace into a bow tie using the twilly but even the twilly was too much material to work with. The little tie on my wrist doesn't quite have the same effect!
If you have a bow tie you can still send in some pics of you rocking it to be included in the roundup, details are in the Frivolous Friday post and you just need to submit your pictures by Monday, 16th January.


Had a productive day shopping, here's what I picked up from Jeanswest thanks to a birthday voucher from Jeanswest and gift cards from my sister and her boyfriend.
(all images from www.jeanswest.com.au)

Jeanswest Maria cami

Jeanswest Agnes tee (got this twice - in the tea tree green and the coconut and black pictured)

Also picked up a floral top, but I can't find it online so maybe it's sold out there.

Sunday evening was of course volunteering at Church Online: http://live.lifechurch.tv/.

Hope everyone had a great Sunday whatever it involved :)